A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled yesterday that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) violated the Administrative Procedure Act “through their slapdash imposition of political whims” by limiting grant awards to projects in places that outlaw public camping, among other requirements.
At issue was the criteria HUD had placed on Continuum of Care Build grants, for which Congress had appropriated $75 million in 2022 to go toward permanent supportive housing.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness and Women’s Development Corporation, a Rhode Island nonprofit, sued HUD and Secretary Scott Turner in September after the agency had sought new applications for the grants in what’s called a notice of funding opportunity. At the time, HUD had already issued several such notices and even selected awardees without notifying them months earlier.
The September notice set a new criteria that the Trump administration has placed on other HUD grants, including the agency’s main Continuum of Care program grants that help communities across the country fight homelessness.
The Build grants’ criteria included requiring applicants to be in a city, county or state that enforces public camping laws, outlaws public illegal drug use and cooperates with federal immigration enforcement. Applicants were also required to certify that they wouldn’t run drug injection sites or other harm reduction programs and that they would abide by the Trump administration’s position that only male and female genders exist.
In Tuesday’s ruling, the court found HUD’s criteria and September notice of funding opportunity violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The court ordered HUD not to use the criteria or notice and to preserve the funds until the agency lawfully awards them.
The Trump administration opposes permanent housing and other “housing first” approaches to homelessness, arguing unsheltered people should become sober, address mental illnesses and receive wraparound services before receiving housing.
Contact Streetlight editor Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@streetlightnews.org. Follow her reporting on Bluesky or by joining our newsletter.
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